Foliation is any penetrative planar fabric present in rocks.

Foliation is common to rocks affected

by regional metamorphic compression typical of orogenic belts. Rocks exhibiting foliation include
the typical metamorphic rock sequence of slate, phyllite, schist and gneiss. The slatey cleavage
typical of slate is due to the parallel growth of microscopic mica crystals. In gneiss the foliation is
more typically represented by compositional banding due to segregation of mineral phases.
Foliated rock is also known as S-tectonite in sheared rock masses.

Planar arrangement of structural or textural features in any rock type, but particularly that
resulting from the alignment of constituent mineral grains of a metamorphic rock along straight or
wavy planes. Foliation commonly occurs parallel to original bedding, but it may not be obviously
related to any other structural direction. Foliation is exhibited most prominently by sheety
minerals, such as mica or chlorite.

the ability of rocks to split relatively easily parallel to a certain plane when struck. This mechanical
anisotropy of rocks is caused by dynamic metamorphism in which the platy and rodlike grains of
micas, hornblende, chlorites, and other minerals that make up a rock take on an identical
orientation as a result of recrystallization or rotation. In irregularly shaped grains of minerals,
orientation of the optical axes of the grains and other crystallographic characteristics may be
observed. Petrotectonic analysis is used to study the rules of orientation and the rules for
decoding the motions that cause the orientation.

Foliation may be regional, manifesting itself over large areas, or local, related to shifts along
tectonic displacements. It frequently occurs during rock folding, with the foliation usually
subparallel to the axial planes of the folds. Foliation also forms in cleavage: the crystals are
flattened in a plane perpendicular to the axis of compression and the rock acquires a plane-
parallel oriented internal structure. Some geologists use the term “cleavage” as a synonym for
“foliation.”

Formation Mechanisms

Foliation is usually formed by the preferred orientation of minerals within a rock.

Typically this is a result of some physical force, and its effect upon the growth of minerals. The
planar fabric of a foliation typically forms at right angles to the principal stress direction. In
sheared zones, however, planar fabric within a rock may not be directly perpendicular to the
principal stress direction due to rotation, mass transport and shortening.

Foliation may be formed by realignment of micas and clays via physical rotation of the minerals
within the rock. Often this foliation is associated with diagenetic metamorphism and low-grade
burial metamorphism. Foliation may parallel original sedimentary bedding, but more often is
oriented at some angle to it.

The growth of platey minerals, typically of the mica group, as a result of prograde metamorphic
reactions during deformation. Often, retrograde metamorphism will not form a foliation because
unroofing of a metamorphic belt is not accompanied by significant compressive stress. Thermal
metamorphism in the aureole of a granite is also unlikely to result in growth of mica in a foliation,
although growth of new minerals may overprint existing foliation(s).

Alignment of tabular minerals in metamorphic rocks, igneous rocks and intrusive rocks may form
a foliation. Typical examples of metamorphic rocks include porphyroblastic schists where large,
oblate minerals form an alignment either due to growth or rotation in the groundmass.
Igneous rocks can become foliated by alignment of cumulate crystals during convection in large
magma chambers, especially ultramafic intrusions, and typically plagioclase laths. Granite may
form foliation due to frictional drag on viscous magma by the wall rocks. Lavas may preserve a
flow foliation, or even compressed eutaxitic texture, typically in highly viscous felsic agglomerate,
welded tuff and pyroclastic surge deposits.

Metamorphic differentiation, typical of gneisses, is caused by chemical and compositional

banding within the metamorphic rock mass. Usually this represents the protolith chemistry, which
forms distinct mineral assemblages. However, compositional banding can be the result of
nucleation processes which cause chemical and mineralogical differentiation into bands. This
typically follows the same principle as mica growth, perpendicular to the principal stress.
Metamorphic differentiation can be present at angles to protolith compositional banding.

Crenulation and intersection lineations are particular types of foliation.

Interpretation

Foliation, as it forms generally perpendicular to the direction of principal stress, records the
direction of shortening. This is related to the axis of folds, which generally form an axial-planar
foliation within their axial regions.

Measurement of the intersection between a fold's axial plane and a surface on the fold will
provide the fold plunge. If a foliation does not match the observed plunge of a fold, it is likely
associated with a different deformation event.

Foliation in areas of shearing, and within the plane of thrust faults, can provide information on the
transport direction or sense of movement on the thrust or shear. Generally, the acute intersection
angle shows the direction of transport. Foliations typically bend or curve into a shear, which
provides the same information, if it is of a scale which can be observed.

Foliations, in a regional sense, will tend to curve around rigid, incompressible bodies such as
granite. Thus, they are not always 'planar' in the strictest sense and may violate the rule of being
perpendicular to the regional stress field, due to local influences. This is a megascopic version of
what may occur around porphyroblasts. Often, fine observation of foliations on outcrop, hand
specimen and on the microscopic scale complements observations on a map or regional scale.